Affirming the World We Want with Words and Heartful Art by Raphaella Vaisseau

Affirmations work. Words are powerful. What we affirm we can strive for until our believing makes it so. Words and positive self-talk became forever tools in the tool-box I use to navigate life in 1975 when I first read "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale. I was in Lowell, Massachusetts at the time and around that time I had a powerful change of consciousness and began my quest for spiritual knowing. I learned more about affirmation while reading the 1963 edition of Joseph Murphy's book, "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind."

Recently I've discovered the importance of feeling in the practice of affirmation. Yet this is not new information to the already initiated, as Thoreau wrote in his journal, vol. 3 on April 22, 1851, "It is not the invitation which I hear, but which I feel, that I obey."

In the old days I'd write an affirmation and repeat it 100 times a day for 32 days in a row. It was a powerful exercise. Now I simply live affirmations on a daily basis, loving the words that surround me as I work. I enjoy the quotations and color that fill me as I create positive, life-affirming art to assist you and everyone in having a great life and great relationships.

As Lewis Mehl-Madrona said, "Every thought is a prayer, and every prayer is answered". Remember, any thought can be replaced by a new thought in each moment. So, don't get hung up on challenges. Rather, switch your focus to something you love, and find a feeling that is the essence of that. Go with the flow, and your emotions will lift. Surround yourself with positive words and positive people. Abraham-Hicks teaches that fighting against something makes it stronger, so instead be FOR what you love - in your self, in others, and in the world. Namaste. - Raphaella Vaisseau